Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Quebec

Yes, at hospital programmes only. RAMQ covers HBOT at Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis (Quebec City area) and Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal for the 14 Health Canada-recognised conditions with a physician referral. Private hyperbaric clinics in Quebec are not RAMQ-covered.

Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis in the Quebec City area has an 18-person multiplace chamber, the largest single multiplace hyperbaric chamber in Canada. It provides 24/7 emergency coverage and is affiliated with Université Laval. The chamber's capacity allows it to receive critical care patients including those requiring mechanical ventilation. Other provinces (Ontario in particular) have greater total hospital hyperbaric capacity distributed across multiple programmes.

No. Private hyperbaric clinics in Quebec are not covered by RAMQ. Treatment at private clinics like Hyperbaric Montreal is entirely out of pocket. Some private extended health plans may cover specific indications; confirm with your plan administrator before booking.

Patients in regions distant from the two hospital programmes (Côte-Nord, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Gaspésie) are coordinated to either Lévis or Montréal through their physician and the regional CIUSSS. For emergencies, fixed-wing or helicopter air ambulance transport is arranged depending on clinical urgency.

Private-pay HBOT in Quebec typically ranges from approximately $150 to $400 per session depending on chamber type and clinical complexity. A full course of 20 to 40 sessions for a chronic indication can total $3,000 to $16,000. Confirm current pricing with the clinic directly.

Quebec references the 14 Health Canada-recognised conditions: carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, gas or air embolism, gas gangrene, necrotising soft-tissue infections, crush injury, severe anaemia, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, problem wounds, soft-tissue radiation necrosis, radiation damage affecting bone, compromised grafts and flaps, refractory osteomyelitis, and thermal burns. Intracranial abscess (UHMS Indication #8) and central retinal artery occlusion (a sub-presentation of arterial insufficiency) are additional UHMS-listed uses treated at some Canadian hospital hyperbaric programmes, not among the named Health Canada 14.

Most chronic indications require a course of 20 to 40 daily sessions, with some radiation indications requiring up to 60 sessions. Each session typically lasts 90 to 120 minutes. Acute emergencies may require only one or a few treatments.

Call 911. The receiving emergency department coordinates urgent transfer to the nearest hospital hyperbaric programme, Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis or Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, through the regional CIUSSS critical care transport network. For diving emergencies, the Divers Alert Network (DAN) hotline at 1-919-684-9111 can advise on the nearest active recompression chamber.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Quebec is accessed through RAMQ at Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal for the 14 Health Canada-recognised conditions with a physician referral. The referral pathway typically starts with a family physician or specialist (hyperbaric medicine, wound care, infectious disease, otolaryngology for sudden hearing loss, ophthalmology for retinal indications). The referring physician faxes the referral to the closest hospital hyperbaric unit, which schedules an in-person consultation; treatment begins after the unit's hyperbaric physician confirms clinical appropriateness. Emergency cases (carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, gas embolism) bypass the elective referral pathway and are accepted directly from emergency departments.

A standard HBOT session at hospital programmes and private clinics across Quebec lasts 90 to 120 minutes door-to-door: roughly 10 to 15 minutes for compression to treatment depth, 60 to 90 minutes at treatment pressure (typically 2.0 to 2.8 ATA), and 10 to 15 minutes for decompression. Emergency indications such as carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, or air embolism may use shorter or longer protocols (typically 2 to 5 hours per session for severe cases). Most chronic-condition courses run 20 to 40 sessions delivered daily or near-daily over 4 to 8 weeks.

Private HBOT clinics in Quebec typically quote $150 to $400 per session for self-pay treatment, with a full 20 to 40 session course totalling approximately $3,000 to $16,000. RAMQ covers HBOT at Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal for the 14 Health Canada-recognised conditions with a physician referral, at no out-of-pocket cost. CPSA accreditation in Alberta or equivalent provincial standards elsewhere apply to private clinics; confirm billing arrangements with each clinic.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is generally safe when delivered in a Health Canada-licensed clinical-grade chamber under physician supervision. The most common side effects are temporary: middle-ear barotrauma during compression (managed by ear-clearing techniques), transient short-sightedness over long courses that reverses within weeks of finishing, and occasional sinus pressure. Rare serious risks include oxygen toxicity seizures (under 1 in 10,000 sessions at clinical pressures) and chamber-related pneumothorax expansion. Absolute contraindications are untreated pneumothorax, concurrent bleomycin chemotherapy, and concurrent disulfiram. Hospital programmes and CPSA-accredited private clinics follow detailed pre-treatment screening protocols.

Clinical-grade hyperbaric oxygen therapy delivers 100 per cent oxygen at 2.0 to 2.8 ATA inside a Health Canada-licensed chamber. "Mild" or "soft" hyperbaric chambers operate at 1.3 ATA or less, sometimes with ambient air rather than concentrated oxygen, and are not Health Canada-licensed for the 14 recognised indications. The clinical evidence base supporting HBOT specifically references pressures of 2.0 ATA and above; lower-pressure protocols do not produce the same dissolved-oxygen physiology. RAMQ and other provincial health plans cover treatment only at hospital programmes operating clinical-grade chambers.